Settled Junior Boks ready for Baby Blacks

The Junior Springboks have named an unchanged match-23 for their massive World Rugby U20 Championship final meeting with fierce rivals the Junior All Blacks at the Stadio Mario Battaglini in Rovigo, Italy, on Saturday night (kick-off 8:30pm).

An unchanged #JuniorBoks match-23 will take on New Zealand in the #WorldRugbyU20s final in Italy on Saturday evening – more here: https://t.co/xnXLQLszXD 🇿🇦#JourneyToGreatness pic.twitter.com/YStSPHSbIJ

— SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) July 17, 2025

Lock, Riley Norton, will once again lead a familiar-looking side that has featured in most of the pool matches, as well as Monday’s semi-final win against Argentina.

Junior Boks coach, Kevin Foote, says his team has done well to reach the final and they are excited to face their greatest rivals (New Zeland) with a settled side.

“This has been our settled combination for most of the year, and the team play with great synergy,” said Foote.

“Given how well everyone has played, it was such a difficult task to leave anyone out. We are grateful for the absolute selflessness of the players not selected for Saturday’s final, and for how hard they are training to ensure the team is well prepared for New Zealand. We decided to pick six forwards on the bench yet again, as they made a difference in the semi-final against Argentina, and we also learned some valuable lessons when we faced New Zealand in the U20 Rugby Championship in South Africa a few months ago.”

Saturday’s decider marks the Junior Boks’ first appearance in the final since 2014, and it’s a repeat of the 2012 final in which South Africa beat New Zealand at Newlands in Cape Town.

STARTING XV: Gilermo Mentoe, Cheswill Jooste, Demitre Erasmus, Albie Bester, Jaco Williams, Vusi Moyo, Haashim Pead, Wandile Mlaba, Bathobele Hlekani, Xola Nyali, JJ Theron, Riley Norton (c), Herman Lubbe, Siphosethu Mnebelele, Simphiwe Ngobese.

BENCH: Jaundré Schoeman, Oliver Reid, Jean Erasmus, Jaco Grobbelaar, Matt Romao, Stephanus Linde, Ceano Everson, Dominic Malgas.